Socket Programming in C and Java Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
Sockets are one way of doing inter-process communication
(IPC) between processes on the same or on different machines
in Unix
First introduced with BSD 4.1c in 1983
– Now available in all flavors of Unix and also on Windows („winsock“)
– Especially well suited for and often used in client-server applications
– http, ftp, ssh, … are sockets-based
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 1
Sockets in General Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
Socket: one endpoint of a bi-directional communication link
– A communication link always consists of two sockets
– Setting up a communication link: create two sockets and connect them
Client-server applications
– Non-symmetric roles
– Server waits for a connection from a client
– One server can usually handle many clients: fork()
– Loose coupling: client and server only need to speak the same protocol,
no need to use the same programming language or the same
architecture on both parts
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 2
Socket Programming in C Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
A socket is accessed through a descriptor (system-provided
integer)
– Descriptor returned form or passed to functions
– Many similarities with files (file descriptors); example: read and write
functions
– Difference to files in creation and control of options (more complex)
Socket creation and usage in C: (all in <sys/sockets.h>
– socket()
– socketpair()
– bind()
– listen()
– accept()
– connect()
– read()
– write()
– close()
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 3
Create a Socket Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
int socket (int domain, int type, int protocol)
– Domain is AF_UNIX or AF_INET
• AF_INET for processes on different or on the same host
• AF_UNIX for processes on the same machine only
– Type is the style of communication:
• SOCK_STREAM: connection-oriented „stream“: no record
boundaries, guaranteed delivery
• SOCK_DGRAM: connection-less „datagram“: sending individual
records, delivery is not guaranteed
– Protocol allows the specification of the underlying protocol to be used;
• AF_INET and stream goes with TCP
• AF_INET and datagram goes with UDP
• The sysem will chose the most appropriate when specifying 0
– Our application uses AF_INET and SOCK_STREAM
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 4
Assing a name to a socket: bind Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
int bind(int sockfd, struct sockaddr *my_addr, socklen_t, addrlen)
– Assigns a name to a socket, so that it can be referenced by another
process
– In the AF_UNIX domain, a name is established using the file system
– In the AF_INET domain a name consists of an internet (IP) address and a
port number
– Example: [Link]:80
– Ports below 1024 are reserved
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 5
Connect to another socket: connect Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
int connect(int sockfd, const struct sockaddr *serv_addr, socklen_t
addrlen);
– Specify the local socket (sockfd) and the name of the remote socket
– Remote socket must have been bound to that name
– When connect succeeds, the connection is set up and you can
read/write to the socked specified by sockfd
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 6
Setting up a Server to accept connections Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
Create (socket()) and assign name (bind())
Change to listening mode
– int listen( int s, int backlog )
– backlog is the length of the queue where unhandled connection
requests are placed
– non-blocking
Wait for connections
– int accept (int s, struct sockaddr *addr, socklen_t *addrlen);
– blocking
– returns a new socket used to talk to client, client‘s address information
is placed in name
– The old socket is used to handle new connection requests
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 7
Read/Write and Send/Recv Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
ssize_t read (int fd, void *buf, size_t count);
ssize_t write (int fd, const void *buf, size_t count);
int send (int s, const void *msg, size_t len, int flags);
int recv (int s, void *buf, size_t len, int flags);
Also: int recv(int s, void *buf, size_t len, int flags);
– Recvfrom, recvmsg, sendto sendmsg…
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 8
Client and Server Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
Server
Client
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 9
Sockets in Java Karl Fürlinger
fuerling@[Link]
Easier, Java hides a lot of details
Two classes in [Link].*
– Socket
– ServerSocket
– Example:
mysock = new Socket(<hostname>, <port>);
servsock = new ServerSocket(<port>);
– Read from and write to socket via input and output streams
[Link]()
[Link]()
Server implementation in Java
– Blocking accept();
Socket clientSocket = null;
try {
clientSocket = [Link]();
}
catch (IOException e) {}
Programming of Supercomputers Sockets | 10
